Ram with tapered wear plates



March 19, 1940. H. ALLEN RAM WITH TAPERED WEAR PLATES Filed July 2,1'93? 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 n A on fin m M Q 4 mm ATTORN EYE.

March 19', 1940. H. ALLEN 'RAM WITH TAPERED WEAR PLATES Filed Jul y 2,1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 V HERBERTALLEN.

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March 19, 1940. H. ALLEN 2,194,257

RAM WITH TAPERED WEAR PLATES Filed July 2. 193'? s Sheets-Sheet sHERBERT ALLEN Patented Mar. 19, 1940 PATENT y OFFICE 2,194,257 RAM wrrnTAPERED WEAR PLATES Herbert Allen, Houston, Tex., assignor to CameronIron Works, a corporation Application July 2, 1937, Serial No. 151,655 4Claims. ci. 251-51 "The invention relates to a blowout preventer of thetype which is attached to well heads wherein a closure is to be madeacross the well opening.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a blowout preventerconstruction wherein the rams of the blowout preventer are adapted toclose about a pipe in the well bore and to maintain a seal about thepipe even though the pipe is subjected to rotation for long periods oftime.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a ram construction forblowout preventers wherein a packing and wear plates are provided insuch a manner that wearing away of the packing material will beautomatically compensated for by displacement of additional packingmaterial to the wearing position by the movement of the wear plates. 1 I

Another object of the invention is to provide a blowout preventer ramwith a tapered groove across its front face, which is arranged toreceive a packing assembly in such a manner that when the assembly isforced into the groove some;

of the packing material will be displaced and extruded forwardly tomaintain a seal with the pipe in the well bore.

Another object of the invention is. to provide 1 tapered plates on ablowout preventer packing so that as the wear increases the amount ofpacking material displaced will-be increased. Other and further objectsof the invention will be readily apparent when the following descriptionis considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

' Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the blowout preventer with certain ofthe parts shown in section and the rams in open position.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating the ramsas being closed about a pipe in order to form a seal therewith.

Fig. 3 is a. perspective View of the ram body and illustrating thegrooves and recesses therein which are to receive the packing assembly.I

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the packing assembly. I

In Fig. l the blowout. preventer body is -illus-' trated generally at 2and comprises a' construction which is provided with a vertical passage3 therethrough; which is the passage from the well bore. The preventeris attached to the well head passage 3. These chambers are arranged tomovably receive the ram members 9 and Ill, these ram members beingidentical in construction so that the description of one of them shouldsuflice. v

The chambers I and 8 are closed at their outer ends by a bonnet such asl2, which is held in position by the bolts l3. This bonnet carries 3 astem ll which is enclosed by a stufling box l5 and is rotatable in thebonnet, but is restrained from longitudinal'movement by virtueof theretainer rings l'l, one of which is positioned on each side of theflange i8 which is formed on the stem. The inner end of the stem isthreaded at 20 and in this manner engaged in the'cap 2! which forms aportion of the ram I0.' It seems obvious that rotation of the stem Iwill cause the ram to move to and fro to open and closed position.

Particular attentioh is directed to the construction of the ram body II)as best seen in Fig. 3. This body is made up of a head25 and a shank 26.These two parts are preferably in the form of an integral casting orforging and it will be observed that the shank 2B is of less diameterthan the head 25 and that a. shoulder 21 defines these differences indiameter. While this ram construction is shown as circular it is to beunderstood that it may take any other desired configuration, so long asit embodies the spirit of the invention. The, forward face 29 of the ramis provided with agroove 30. This groove is somewhat tapered and extendsentirely across the front face 29 of the rampthe widestIportion of thegroove being at the forward end. The base 3| of the groove is shown asbeing curved and at its end it merges with the side recesses 32, one ofwhich is shown on each side of the head 25. These recesses 32 extendrearwardly along the side of thehead to' the shoulder 21.

The forward face 29 is vertically grooved with. the semi-circularopenings 33 which are arranged to pass about a pipe in thewell bore.openings 33 will be made of different sizes of course to accommodatedifferent diameters of pipe. on the other hand ifthe preventer is to beused when there is no pipe in the well both these recesses 33 will beomitted and the face 29 i will extend in a single plane across the.front of the ram.

The top and bottom of the ram may be provided with a. cutaway portion34, so as to provide a fiat face 35 surrounding the opening33.

These This arrangement is provided so that a coupling on the drill pipe36 may be deposited upon the face so as to support the weight of thestring of pipe on the blowout preventer, if desired. In event ofexcessive pressures and movement of the drill pipe the collars can comein contact with this face 35 and there is a tendency to form a seat inthis way for the tool joint or coupling on the pipe. A small opening 31on the inner face of each of the recesses 32 is provided in order toreceive a pin which may be formed upon the inner surface of the packingmember so as to assist in holding the packing assembly in position.

The shank 26 is illustrated as cylindrical but, of course, if the head25 is of a different configuration the shank may or may not be made ofthis same configuration.

The packing assembly is illustrated in perspective in Fig. 4 and is madeup of a packing body which is of resilient material, such as rubber orother suitable substance which will flow under pressure to some extent,so that a pressure applied at one point thereof will be distributedthroughout the material to provide a seal of uniform pressure at allpoints, This body of packing material is of a peculiar configuration inorder that it may be deposited in the groove 30 and comprises a flatbody portion 4i which is thickened at 42 near the rear end thereof, thebeveled shoulders 43 defining the thick from the thin areas. The rearend 45 may be curved to fit the configuration of the base 3!. The thinportion 4| is preferably of uniform -thickness throughout its length andwidth and may be cut away at 41 to conform to the size and shape of theopenings 33 which are to receive the pipe 36. Extending rearwardly fromthe body 40 are the legs 48, one of which is positioned at each side atthe rear of the body. These legs are of rectangular configuration exceptfor the outer periphery 49 which may be curved to conform to theperiphery of the head 25.

Particular attention is directed to the wear plates 50 and 5f which arepositioned on the top and the bottom of the packing member in order tocomplete the assembly. These wear plates are deposited on each side ofthe thin portion 4land may be vulcanized or otherwise aflixed to therubber so that they are retained thereby and, will float upon therubber. Each of these plates has a thickened forward end 53 and theplate gradually tapers away toward the rear which is the thinnest partthereof. A beveled face 54 on the inside rear of each plate is formed tocooperate with the beveled face 43 on the packing.

When the packing assembly 40 is positioned in the ram it will completelyfill the groove 30 and the legs 48 will be positioned in the grooves 32.As seen in Figs. 1 and 2. the packing assembly is of such size that itwill project from the forward face 29 of the ram so that the front faceof the packing material and the front faces 6| of the plates 50 and 5|will all extend ontwardly into the opening 3 in front of'the ram. Thisis desirable because when the rams are moved to closed position as shownin Fig. 2 it is intended that these front faces will abut against thepipe 36 in order to form a seal.

As the stem I4 is rotated the ram member will be moved forwardly andforced into engagement with the pipe. This pressure is, of course, transferred from the pipe to the ram through the face II. It seems obviousthat due to the flexibility of the packing material that this pressurewill be transferred through the packing material so that it will beexpanded against all of the faces of the groove 30 and transferred alongthe legs 48 to the grooves 32. The outer periphery of the packing will,of course, form a seal against the inside surface of the cylinder 8, sothat a complete seal is formed in this manner transversely of thehousing 2.

In event the drill stem is rotated and the friction caused by thepressure of the packing against the surface of the pipe results inwearing away of the face ill where it contacts the pipe, then, ofcourse, there will be a tendency for the packing material to flowforwardly to replace the material which has been worn away. In order toassist in this movement of the packing material the wear plates 50and-5| of course are constantly applying pressure to the thickenedportion 42 of the packing material. There is, of course, a tendency forthe entire ram Hi to move forward and inasmuch as the wear plates 55 and5| remain stationary, then the packing material from the thickenedportion 42 will move forwardly around the beveled face 54 of the wearplates and be extruded forwardly between the plates in order tocompensate for wear.

The wear plates 50 and 5| being thicker at their forward ends tend to beforced toward each other as the ram advances, due to the tapered facesof the groove 30. In this manner the greater the wear and the greaterthe movement of the ram toward the pipe, the greater volume of packingmaterial will be displaced because of the tapered construction of thegroove 30 and the tapered construction of the plates 50 and 5|.

In order that a seal may be formed about the head 25 of the rams anannular packing ring 10 is deposited against the shoulder 21 and isarranged to abut the ends H of the legs 48. This ring 10 is held inposition by the end 12 of the cap 2|, this cap in turn being clamped inposition by the bolts 13 which pass through the cap and are threadedinto the end of the shank 26. The ram is held in n0n-rotatable positionby the cooperating rib and groove at 14 in the bonnet l2.

It seems obvious that the cap 2| may be clamped in position with anydesired pressure being applied to the ring 1| so that when the packingassembly abuts against the pipe the additional pressure transmittedthrough the legs 48 will tend to form a peripheral seal about the rearof the head 25 so that a complete seal will be formed at each side ofthe blowout preventer.

What is claimed is:

l. A packing assembly for valves comprising a body of resilientmaterial, side legs thereon, the forward portion of said body being ofreduced thickness, a tapered shoulder joining the thin and thickportions of the body, and a rearwardly tapering metal wear platedisposed on each side of the thinner area.

2. A packing assembly for valves comprising a body of resilientmaterial, side legs thereon, the forward portion of said body being ofreduced thickness, a tapered shoulder joining the thin and thickportions of the body, and a metal wear plate disposed on each side ofthe thinner area,

said-plates being tapered with the thicker portion at the front.

3. A device adapted to abut an object to seal an opening againstpressure, a packing carried by the device, means on the packing disposed60 abut and confine the packing, means to force the device toward theobject to compress the packing andestablish a pressure in the confinedpacking of a value greater than that in the opening to be closed, saidfirst means comprising tapered plates.

4. A device adapted to abut an object to seal an opening againstpressure, a packing carried by the device, means on the packing disposedto abut and confine the packing, means to force the device toward theobject to compress the packing and establish a pressure in the confinedpacking of -a value greater than that in the opening to be closed, saidfirst means compacking.

. HERBERT ALLEN.

